The Stranger
by AntiPerfection
Summary: Hikari, Tohru's friend from elementary school, has found Tohru... and the Sohmas! Tohru asks Kari to spend the week that she's in town with the Sohmas. Will Kari discover the secret of the Sohma curse? Read now, I commandeth thee!
1. Who's at the Door?

Disclaimer – I don't own Fruits Basket or anything related to Fruits Basket except for this fan fic.

The Stranger

Chapter 1: Who's at the Door?

When Tohru awoke, the house was willed with silence, and the sun was beginning to glow through the pink curtains of her bedroom window. She stretched, pushed back her blankets, and rose from her bed. "What a wonderful day," She spoke aloud to her empty bedroom. In a matter of seconds, she was standing in front of her closet, contemplating what she would wear on this fine day. Since it was Saturday (no school), she decided upon a purple, short sleeved dress with blue and pink flowers. Tohru opened the door slowly, careful to make sure it didn't squeak, and slipped out into the hall. She pulled the door closed behind her, and walked into the living room. Draped over the couch was Kyo, who was out like a light and snoring. On the floor was Shigure, who was sleeping on his side, as though he'd simply fallen over when he fell asleep. In a chair on the opposite side of the room was Momiji, slumped over and drooling slightly. On the floor in front of him was Kisa, curled laying face up, with her mouth open and eyes closed. Yuki was lying in another chair, his legs crossed in front of him. Tohru smiled at the humorous sight of her new family members sleeping. The television had been left on, so she bent to turn it off. When she turned back around, Yuki was standing upright, stretching his long arms.

"Good morning, Tohru." His hair was a mess, and his clothes were ruffled from sleeping.

"Good morning." Tohru smiled, and walked past him into the kitchen. There she took down six bowls, and sat them around the table. From the refrigerator, she took some strawberries in a bowl and carefully placed them on the counter. She drew a small paring knife from a drawer, and cut the little green leaves from about 20 strawberries, washed them, and placed the remaining strawberries back into the fridge. Yuki watched her from the doorway into the living room for a few minutes, and then spoke.

"What are you doing?"

"Fixing breakfast." Tohru looked up from what she was doing for a moment, and then went back to what she was doing. From a cabinet she took a glass mixing bowl, and dumped the cleaned strawberries into it. With a wooden spoon, she began to smash them, making what looked like a red, lumpy smoothie. She dumped a cup of sugar into the red mixture, and added a half cup of water. ((I got this idea from SamaNeko's fan fic... thanks for letting me use it!)) After she smashed the mixture into a chunky strawberry stew, she poured even amounts into each bowl. Without being asked, Yuki began to sit out silverware and napkins at each place at the table.

Once Tohru noticed what Yuki was doing, she smiled to herself. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He smiled, and then went back to setting out the silverware. Once his task was done, he went back into the living room. Tohru made tea, poured it into glasses, and sat them on the table with each bowl. When she re-entered the living room, the TV was on again, turned to the news. Kisa and Momiji were still asleep, but Shigure, Kyo, and Yuki were awake, and were staring at the TV.

"Everyone, it's time to eat!" Tohru's voice was cheery, and her face lit up. She bent down by Kisa, and tapped the girl on the shoulder. "Kisa, time to eat. Wake up!" The girl's eyes opened, and she smiled. "Good morning sissy." She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and then stood. Next, she tapped Momiji on the shoulder. "Wake up, Momiji. It's breakfast time!" His brown eyes opened, and he smiled.

"Guten Morgen, Tohru!" ((Translation: "Good morning, Tohru!")) He scurried off to the table, being his usual, girlish, hyper active self.

All of the others walked sluggishly to the kitchen table, and sat down. Shigure was the first to take a spoonful of the strawberry goodness that Tohru had created. "My, Tohru, this food is excellent!" Tohru blushed, taking the praise modestly.

"Is it really that good?" Tohru giggled.

Yuki dipped his spoon into his bowl, and brought it to his lips. "Yes, it's quite good." He dipped his spoon back into the red slush.

"Well, thank you." Tohru blushed, having received compliments from two people.

All of a sudden, ((yes, I know, how original! --')) a firm knock came on the door. Yuki smiled and asked, "Who could that be?"

Kyo looked crossly at Yuki. "You damn rat, you planned this just to interrupt my breakfast!"

"No…" Yuki shook his head and sighed. When would Kyo grow a brain? He rose to get the door.

"No, I'll get it!" Tohru exclaimed as she got out of her seat. Yuki plopped back down into his chair, and slurped some more of Tohru's wonderful strawberry concoction.

Tohru opened the door slowly, and from the crack she saw….

Sorry everyone, but that's where I must leave you. Dinner's ready! Until next time… PLEASE read again! I promise it'll get better! BTW – This is my first fan fic.


	2. Introductions

Disclaimer- Fruits Basket Not mine! Do I have to spell it out for you?

The Stranger

Chapter 2: Introductions

"Hikari!" Tohru squealed her friend's name, and then grabbed her friend into a bear hug. "How have you been? Why haven't you called? How are your parents?" Tohru spoke rapidly while squeezing the life out of her friend.

"Tohru!" Yuki shook the girl softly. "Your friend is turning blue." He shook his head and smiled.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Tohru released her friend, and Hikari took in a deep breath. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

"I'm fine." Kari's tone was icier than she meant for it to be so she continued quickly, paying close attention to her tone. "So, how have you been?"

"I've been wonderful." She glanced back at the Sohmas, gathered around the table. "Come in, come in!" She grabbed her friend's hand, drawing her inside. "Here, I'll show you to your room." Tohru took her friend to her own room.

Once Tohru was safely out of the room Kyo exclaimed, "She's STAYING!"

Yuki shrugged. "Obviously she is."

"She didn't even ask us! Is she _allowed _to do this?" Kyo got up from the table and sat on the couch.

"She's her own individual, none of us posses her." Shigure spoke thoughtfully.

'That's true…" Yuki stood, put his bowl in the sink, and went into his room.

Back in Tohru's room, the girls were sitting on Tohru's pink and blue bed, talking about how much each other had changed, gossiping about who was doing what now, everything they could think of.

Hikari smoothed her straight black hair away from her face with her hand and flashed her dazzling, white, straight smile. "So, who are the people in the kitchen?"

"Those are the Sohmas, I live with them. They're really nice..." Tohru appeared to be in deep thought for a split second. "You should meet them!" Tohru exclaimed, and dragged her friend by the hand out to the living room. There watching the TV was Kyo, Shigure, Momiji, and Yuki. Tohru flipped off the TV and dragged Hikari in front of it by the shoulders. "Everyone, this is Hikari, and she'll be staying here for the next week!" Kari's blue eyes flashed as she turned her head to look at the Sohmas, grouped together on the couch.

"Um… hi?" Hikari was hiding her nervousness quite well.

Yuki stood up, walked over to Hikari, and shook her hand. "I'm Yuki Sohma; it's a pleasure to meet you." Yuki walked over to Kyo, grabbed his upper arm, and pulled him to his feet. "This is Kyo." As soon as Yuki released Kyo's arm, he fell back to the couch.

Shigure didn't have to be told to get up. He stood on his own and shook Kari's hand. "I'm Shigure, I own the house." He smiled at her enthusiastically before sitting back down, and kept his eyes on her.

Momiji also stood on his own. He kissed the stranger's hand. "My name is Momiji. I'm half German!" He bounced off to the kitchen to do the dishes.

Kari sat in the chair closest to the couch. "So, what do you all do for fun?"

Kyo spoke up. "Nothing." He snorted.

Kari's eyes focused on him. "Nothing at all? No movies? No shopping?"

Kyo shook his head.

"Well, that has to change. Everybody, we're going to see a movie!"

"Where are we going to get the money for that?" Kyo snorted again.

"I'll pay for it. Everyone go change." With that, Kari stood up and walked back to Tohru's room.


	3. The Movies Part 1

Disclaimer – Come on… I'm pathetic and I do not own Fruits Basket or anything related except for this fic and Hikari.

The Stranger

Chapter 3: The Movies (Part 1)

Hikari turned slowly and walked back into Tohru's room. The door squeaked as she opened it. 'Gotta get some WD-40 for that…' She thought. She opened her suitcase on the floor, knelt by it, and began searching through the clothes in the bag. A white miniskirt… she threw it aside. An AAA (Anime Addicts Anonymous) shirt… she threw that aside too. This throwing of clothes went on for a few minutes before Tohru entered.

"How did you fit that many clothes into one bag!" Tohru's mouth fell open at the sight of her floor, bed, and vanity covered in Kari's clothes.

"It's a gift." Kari grinned and pulled the last article of clothing out of the bag. It was a single white monkey sock. She threw it over her shoulder. "I've got nothing to wear!" Kari dropped her head into her hands and sighed.

"Well, let's get this mess picked up and we'll find something." Tohru began to pick up clothes and stick them in a drawer in her closet organizer thing. (She'd cleaned it out right after she invited Kari for the week.)

"Thanks a lot." She said. (Unsarcastically.) She too began to pick up clothes and fold them. It took about 10 minutes to pick it all up. Kari and Tohru then knelt next to the drawer.

"So, what look are you going for here?" Tohru grinned, just happy to be spending time with her long lost friend.

"You're beginning to sound like me!" Kari began to laugh.

All of a sudden, (How cliché. --') a hard knock came upon the door. The door burst open, and there stood Kyo. "How much longer are you going to stay in here?" He sounded angry. (Normal Kyo!)

"Just a few minutes, we promise." Tohru smiled up at him.

"What if I told you we would take another hour?" Kari said in between fits of laughter.

"I'd kill myself." Kyo sighed and closed the door behind him as he left.

"Gee, he sounded mad." Kari sounded almost concerned.

"Oh, that's normal Kyo. He's always ready to fight, and has a VERY short temper."

"Oh…" Kari didn't think there was much else to say, so she answered the question Tohru had asked earlier. "As for tonight's look, we'll go for sexy and dangerous." She burst into laughter again.

Tohru laughed too. "Sexy? What, do you like one of the Sohmas?"

"No."

"Oh."

"But you know what would be fun?"

"What?"

"If we made them think that I did!"

"That would be…. Interesting."

Another firm knock came on the door. From the other side of the door Kyo screamed, "HURRY UP!"

"We'd better hurry up and get ready. We'll talk about this later." Tohru threw the white miniskirt and a red AAA halter top to Kari. "Is that sexy and dangerous enough for you?" She giggled.

"Oh yes." Kari giggled as she crawled over to her bag and took out a pair of white 1 ½ inch platform flip flops, each topped with a fake, red carnation. She also took out a cotton bag with AAA printed on it.

"It looks like you're going to take a few minutes, so I'll go stall." Tohru smiled and exited the room.

From outside the door she heard Kyo scream, "Is she going to be done any time soon?"

Kari giggled to herself. She changed into her tank top and skirt, slipped on her flip flops, and threw the small AAA bag onto Tohru's vanity. She sat down in the pink upholstered chair. Out of the bag she took a handful of red… what the heck was that stuff?

About 15 minutes after Tohru's arrival in the living room, Kari walked slowly into the room. Shigure's mouth was the first to drop open. Kyo's was second, and Yuki's was last. Momiji didn't like girls (No offense to the Momiji fans.) so his mouth stayed in that creepy little grin.

"You look…" Yuki couldn't finish. (He was drooling.)

"Hot." Shigure finished the sentence.

Yuki threw a look at Shigure, who was sitting next to him. "Nice." He finished the sentence his own way.

"Well, are we gonna go?" She pulled the hair closest to her face back to reveal strips of red among the shiny, straight blackness of her natural hair.

Kyo spoke up. "Y-yeah…"

Tohru grinned. Hikari had decided to go through with her little plan.

"Let's go." Kari smiled.

Kyo shot up from his seat to open the door. He held it open for Kari, then Tohru. He let it slam before Yuki could get out.

'How unlike Kyo…' Tohru thought. 'Does he really like Hikari? More importantly, does Kari like him?'

The rest of the gang (Momiji, Shigure, and Yuki) joined them on the porch, and then they began the long walk to the movie theater.

Fast Forward 15 minutes…..

It began to rain.

"Darn it! I knew I should have brought my umbrella!" Tohru sighed as water droplets fell on her face.

"Should we go back?" Kari looked at Tohru, then Kyo.

"No, we're already about half way there." Kyo said.

Kari, (Who was walking next to Kyo) fake shivered and began to rub her bare arms.

Kyo smiled almost unnoticeably down at Hikari and drew her closer to his own body with one arm. (Hey, it wasn't a hug! Don't care what you people say!)

Tohru was definitely suspicious now.

(This is where I leave you! I'm on what I call a sleep deprivation high, and my fingers hurt. I'll write tomorrow.)


End file.
